The feature that makes portable electronics attractive is also the feature that makes them vulnerable to loss and theft. That is, their size and ease of transport. Laptop computers, cellular telephones, convergence devices, such as the Blackberry™, and other portable electronic devices are inherently small and easily moved. If left out or misplaced, such devices are easily hidden and removed by even a casual passer-by.
The consequences of an electronic device falling into the wrong hands are routinely seen in the headlines. From U.S. military personnel to Chicago public school teachers, millions of people's personal information may be been comprised by stolen laptop computers. Celebrity cell phone address books are fodder for grocery line scandal sheets. Stolen industrial secrets can be worth millions of dollars in high tech espionage wars.
Many attempts to protect portable electronic devices have been attempted. Several involve motion detection and attempt to distinguish between walking and running, with consideration for travel on an airplane. Motion detection can, at best, offer limited effectiveness in either preventing theft or aiding in recovery of missing device. Other methods place a small software-based module in firmware that systematically erases memory when signaled that the electronic device is lost or stolen. Such software-based measures rely on remaining out of view and hidden so that they can operate before being discovered and removed. Because they must remain hidden and operate undercover, software-based security or recovery measures offer no opportunity to deter a potential thief from viewing the electronic device as anything but a target of opportunity.